No plagiarism, next book about betrayal – Sara

MANILA, Philippines —   She wrote the children’s book with ease, based on her own experience, so there was no need to copy from anyone, Vice President Sara Duterte said yesterday as she denied allegations that her work was plagiarized.

In a statement posted on her Facebook account Wednesday night, Duterte said that writing a short story based on one’s personal experience is a piece of cake, and that she is planning to write another book, this time about betrayal by a friend.

She saidg the allegation that she committed plagiarism was another form of character assassination.

Durterte reiterated that the distribution of her book is part of the Office of the Vice President (OVP)’s project to “encourage the youth to love reading and to write their own story.”

She said the country’s problem is not books, it’s the poor reading skills of the youth.

The 16-page picture book for children titled “Isang Kaibigan” became controversial after she engaged Sen. Risa Hontiveros in a word war during a Senate finance committee hearing on Tuesday when the senator asked her what the book was about.

Instead of answering Hontiveros’ question, Duterte became visibly upset and accused the senator of “politicizing the budget of the government.”

Hontiveros was questioning the P10 million being requested by the OVP for the publication and distribution of the book under its proposed P2.037-billion budget for 2025. The book was purportedly meant for distribution to public school students.

Finance committee chair Sen. Grace Poe had to intervene to prevent the verbal spat between Duterte and Hontiveros from getting out of hand. Asked by Poe what the book was all about, Duterte said, “Friendship.”

The controversy over Duterte’s book did not end at the Senate hearing. Renowned novelist Ninotchka Rosca posted on her Meta (Facebook) account the cover of another children’s book “Owly: Just a Little Blue” written by American author Andy Runton.

Rosca captioned her post with the book’s description: “Owly Just a Little Blue is the second book in the graphic novel Owly series by Andy Runton. Owly discovers a new bluebird and decides to build a home to help it. It’s not an easy task to build or to make friends with the new bird family. But, Owly is determined and kind.”

This sparked allegations that Duterte plagiarized Runton’s work, with numerous social media posts citing its similarities to the Vice President’s work and subsequently raining memes.

In “Isang Kaibigan,” however, it was the owl which lost its friends and its nest because of a storm, and it’s a friendly parrot that helped the owl rebuild its nest.

OVP spokesman Michael Poa earlier denied the plagiarism allegation, saying that “Isang Kaibigan” has been under copyright since December 2023.

No easy task

For children’s book publishing house co-founder and editor China Patria de Vera, writing a children’s book is not easy, contrary to Duterte’s claim.

“This sets the bar, it has different roles (on the development of children),” De Vera, co-founder and senior editor of Aklat Alamid, said in Filipino during an interview with “Storycon” on One News yesterday.

“Reading advocates are approaching the subject as something that we have to take seriously… We have standards,” she added.

De Vera said it appears that Duterte’s book did not go through the editorial process that authors usually have to go through.

“It is text heavy. The images can also be improved,” she said of Duterte’s book.

She noted concerns raised by other authors, such as the text, images and the actual layout of the book.

“It can be improved if they opened a space for it to be workshopped… This is a children’s book, the images must also be workshopped,” she added.

De Vera underscored the importance of understanding the process of publishing, such as testing the material before actual publication.

“We have kid testing. The children read the manuscript or mock-up book print so they can comment,” she said.

In the case of Duterte’s book, she expressed concern over the request for budget to cover its publication.

“They have to allow the public to comment because they will use public funds,” she said. “We also have skilled writers and book creators, why not just tap them?”

On Duterte’s plan to write a book about betrayal, De Vera said, “It is possible, it’s just that – how do we process, how do we scaffold, how do we unpack these ideas to the children?”

In a statement, the Indie Publishers Collab PH questioned Duterte’s request for a budget to print and distribute a self-authored book.

“How privileged for someone who has no track record in writing and publishing books appropriate for children,” it said.

“Here we are, burning our brows to come up with exceptional books with a diversity of stories and topics that reflect the Filipino experience and culture, but we only have resources to print and distribute 20 to 300 copies at a time as we rely on our very shallow pockets,” it added.

Also on “Storycon,” former Commission on Audit commissioner Heidi Mendoza questioned the value of publishing a book for the OVP.

“If there is a necessity, why will it be the OVP that will print it? We have the National Printing Office or the National Book Development Board,” she said in Filipino.

“My point is, why will we print books out of OVP funds?” she added.

Realign P10 million

Teachers’ group Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), meanwhile, has urged Congress not to give in to the OVP’s request for P10-million allocation for the publication of Duterte’s book and instead realign the fund to procurement of additional textbooks.

In a statement, the ACT yesterday said that since many public schools nationwide are grappling with lack of textbooks and other learning materials, government funds “must be directed toward resolving shortages in basic education needs, not vanity projects.”

“The allocation of such a significant sum for a single book project is a glaring example of misplaced priorities,” ACT chairman Vladimer Quetua said.

“Our public basic education system is in dire need of resources to provide adequate textbooks and learning materials for students, yet we see the Vice President seeking to publish her own narrative with taxpayers’ money and divert public funds to projects that serve personal interests,” he added.

The ACT cited the report of the Second Congressional Commission on Education which showed that from 2012 to 2022, only grades five and six students had access to complete textbooks.

“We call on the Senate and Congress to scrutinize these budget proposals and ensure that every peso be spent where it counts – on addressing the critical shortages in our schools and uplifting the quality of education, rather than investing in projects that do not directly benefit the majority of our learners,” Quetua said.

The ACT also reiterated its call on the Marcos administration to fulfill the country’s commitment to the United Nations to allocate at least six percent of its gross domestic product to the education budget. - Janvic Mateo